Dutch's best Christmas
by melinda08
Summary: After a day of teasing from the guys at work, all Dutch wants is to have a nice Christmas. The problem- he's all alone, nowhere to go and nothing to do. Suddenly what starts out to be his worst holiday turns out to be the best. For Jessie


It was Christmas Eve, and once again, Dutch found himself sitting at home, nothing to do but listen to his jazz music and curl up with a good book. Try as he might, he couldn't focus on the words front of him. He'd tried to pick a classic- Charles Dickens was always appropriate for the holidays. But try as he might, nothing could make up for the fact that this was Christmas, and once again, he was all alone.

Claudette had made the offer for a dinner, but he'd overheard her the day before making plans with her own daughter. Normally he wouldn't even care to be the fifth wheel- that's how badly he needed a little companionship. But Vic had overheard the conversation, and as usual, had to put his own two cents in.

"_Nothing like a good charity for Christmas, eh, Dutch?" Vic laughed as he sat brazenly on the corner of Dutch's desk, causing his cup of coffee to spill on his lap._

"_What are you getting at, Vic?" Dutch asked, trying furiously to find a paper towel to wipe off the coffee stain, which unfortunately hit at the most inappropriate spot._

_Shane walked by and started laughing. "What's the matter, Dutch? Did Mommy forget to teach you the basics of potty training 101?" he laughed loudly and obnoxiously. Vic chuckled, and to Dutch's dismay, Claudette had a small grin despite her shaking her head at Shane's comments._

"_Ah, leave him alone, Shane," Vic chimed in. "Corrine always said to me, they'll learn when they're ready. He just ain't ready, yet. Nothing to be ashamed of, Dutch boy." _

"_Come on," Claudette scolded. "Haven't you two done enough...especially you, Vic?"_

"_My bad..." Vic stood up, placed his hands in the air. "If you can't hang with the big boys..."_

"_Very funny, guys." Dutch spoke up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a case I've been working on all day..."_

"_Here, a tip just came in for you," Shane smiled. "The boy's room is that way..."_

_Vic patted him on the shoulder and the two guys went off, laughing._

_Claudette smiled at Dutch. "Come on, you know how those guys are..."_

"_Yeah, they're jerks..." Dutch muttered as he sat back down._

"_Don't let them get you down. After all...it's Christmas. Don't you know that's when the miracles happen?" Claudette asked before gathering her stuff to go talk to David._

"_You really believe that?" Dutch asked hopefully._

_She didn't even look back as she shrugged her shoulders, leaving Dutch alone with his thoughts._

Maybe it was better that he be alone for Christmas. This way, he couldn't be the butt of anyone's jokes now.

He looked at the clock. Eight o'four. Too early for bed, but too late to call anyone. Everyone was at home with their families. Times like this Dutch wished he was a drinking man- kind of.

He turned the stove on, ready to make some cocoa, when the doorbell rang. Great, he thought. Someone playing pranks on the lonely bachelor on Christmas Eve.

He tried to ignore it, but the caller persisted. So he quickly turned the heat down and then went to answer it..

He was not prepared for who was standing at his door.

"Come on, it's cold out. You're a detective...it's snowing, the end of December and if you haven't noticed I don't get a lot of thermal heat on the old noggin," Vic pointed to his bald head.. "You gonna let us in or what?"

Dutch looked and saw that Shane and Lem were with him. Great, this was going from bad to worse by the minute. "I don't...I don't know...I have something on the stove..."

"Hey, if you don't want a little companionship on this fine Christmas eve, that's fine. The wife'll be happy to have me home anyways..." Vic turned around.

"Wait..you guys. Come in. It's okay. I'm sorry...it's just that I wasn't expecting anyone.." Dutch opened the door, and the three guys let themselves in.

No one said anything. Shane was looking around at the surroundings which for some reason irked Dutch. "Can I...can I help you guys with something?"

"Look..." Vic started. "I know...I know the guys have been giving you a hard time lately. Not that you don't bring most of it on yourself, of course...but still..it's Christmas, right?"

Not sure of what they wanted from him, Dutch just nodded.

"Nice place. You keep it up yourself?" Lem asked politely.

"Yeah...well...with a little help from the maid."

"I bet he gets more than a little help from the maid, "Shane laughed. "Tell me, did you stuff her stockings this Christmas...That was funny, right Vic? Vic? Come on..."

"Don't mind Shane. He's just hit the eggnog a little early, if you know what I mean," Vic grinned. "Anyways...we just thought...we were in the neighborhood and ..."

"Yeah, of course. It's nice that you guys decided to stop by," Dutch smiled.

"You got eggnog?" Vic asked.

"Sure, of course."

"That's good, because we got the rum. What do you say, we all indulge a bit...it is Christmas?" Vic grinned as he held up a bottle.

"I don't...I don't really..." But then Dutch thought about it. "Sure, I'll go get some glasses. I'll be back. You guys can sit down if you want, make yourselves comfortable."

Pretty soon the four coworkers were all drinking and telling stories. Mostly it was Vic telling the stories, but somehow Dutch didn't mind. None of them could stay long, of course, but by the time their visit was over, Dutch found himself actually enjoying their company. At least for that evening.

"You guys...I can order pizza or something..."

"Na, we gotta go. Corinne'll skin me alive if I don't make it home soon. But anyways...take it easy, will ya?" Vic held out his hand, and Dutch stared nervously..

"You shake it, it's okay," Lem whispered.

Dutch shook Vic's hand, and then the three guys had left. Dutch found himself smiling. Turns out, it was a pretty good Christmas after all.

The end


End file.
